Hey guys. I live in a townhouse, built in 96 and in my bedroom I currently have a 27g hexagon and 92g corner bowfront tank. (tank bows in front and sits in a corner between two walls)
Im going to buy a 125g tank soon.. Its a 32 year old tank guy only wants $100 for it and thats dirt cheap considering new they are $600-650. It doesnt leak but i plan to re-seal it anyway. This tank was made in 1984 and so its very thick.. almost 1/2 inch thick glass compared to new 125's that are half that thickness but have center support braces. So the tank probably weighs 350-400lbs. Plus water going in it another 1200 lbs or so, so 1600 lbs of weight.. But its a 6 foot tank, so 1600lbs distributed by 6 feet. Only issue is the stand is a wrought iron stand with 4 legs.. so each legg will have 400 lbs of weight so the weight isnt really being distributed even on the floor like a wood stand would do. (although there is another 125g tank with a woodstand i might buy as well for $150 and then just sell one for a profit and keep the wood stand for myself)
Anyway, my bedroom is on the 3rd level. The room itself only has 2 walls on the outside of the house. One wall is the side outside wall, and the other is the front of the house. And the beams under the floor go in horizontal direction meaning front to the back of the house. The closet area of my bedroom there is a metal or perhaps wood support beam on the outside wall and then a big wood beam that rests on it and it goes vertical.. This allows for the horizontal beams to rest on that vertical support beam as joists. (because under my room is a giant open room with no load bearing walls)
I hope im making sense.. If not i made a crude picture in paint to show you guys. Now my 92g is against the outside front and side wall because its a corner tank. So its support by 2 walls and 3 or so joists. The only way i can fit the 125 in my room is by either putting it on the outside wall (the front of the house) and this way the tank is going vertical and the floor beams are going horizontal so the tank would be support by like 5-6 beams and joists. The only issue with this is my window is on the wall and the tank would block half the window.
The other option is to put the tank on the side wall (side of the house) but it would be going horizontal which is the way the floor beams go.. So it would be resting over the middle of the floor beams and only about 2 of them. I could move it as close as possible to that steel (or wood pole) thats supporting the the big beam thats going vertical that i mentioned and it would help with weight because then it would be on 2 floor beams and instead of in the middle of them, itll be on 2 joists and then partially in the middle.
Im sorry im not a engineer, and i hope i made sense.. I cant use the other walls because one wall is the entrance of my room and that would be directly over the middle of the floor (if you walk down stairs) and there is no load bearing wall down there its open floor. And i can use the other wall because its also just a wall seperating bedrooms and the level under is open flooring and no load bearing walls or anything as well.
Now in my opinion it would be best to put the tank along on the outside wall of the house this way its resting on 5-6 beams and their joists. But the window issue kinda blows.. so the best wall is the other wall but then itll only be on two beams.. and im not sure if that will hold weight wise. And yes of course im moving my 92g out
Im going to buy a 125g tank soon.. Its a 32 year old tank guy only wants $100 for it and thats dirt cheap considering new they are $600-650. It doesnt leak but i plan to re-seal it anyway. This tank was made in 1984 and so its very thick.. almost 1/2 inch thick glass compared to new 125's that are half that thickness but have center support braces. So the tank probably weighs 350-400lbs. Plus water going in it another 1200 lbs or so, so 1600 lbs of weight.. But its a 6 foot tank, so 1600lbs distributed by 6 feet. Only issue is the stand is a wrought iron stand with 4 legs.. so each legg will have 400 lbs of weight so the weight isnt really being distributed even on the floor like a wood stand would do. (although there is another 125g tank with a woodstand i might buy as well for $150 and then just sell one for a profit and keep the wood stand for myself)
Anyway, my bedroom is on the 3rd level. The room itself only has 2 walls on the outside of the house. One wall is the side outside wall, and the other is the front of the house. And the beams under the floor go in horizontal direction meaning front to the back of the house. The closet area of my bedroom there is a metal or perhaps wood support beam on the outside wall and then a big wood beam that rests on it and it goes vertical.. This allows for the horizontal beams to rest on that vertical support beam as joists. (because under my room is a giant open room with no load bearing walls)
I hope im making sense.. If not i made a crude picture in paint to show you guys. Now my 92g is against the outside front and side wall because its a corner tank. So its support by 2 walls and 3 or so joists. The only way i can fit the 125 in my room is by either putting it on the outside wall (the front of the house) and this way the tank is going vertical and the floor beams are going horizontal so the tank would be support by like 5-6 beams and joists. The only issue with this is my window is on the wall and the tank would block half the window.
The other option is to put the tank on the side wall (side of the house) but it would be going horizontal which is the way the floor beams go.. So it would be resting over the middle of the floor beams and only about 2 of them. I could move it as close as possible to that steel (or wood pole) thats supporting the the big beam thats going vertical that i mentioned and it would help with weight because then it would be on 2 floor beams and instead of in the middle of them, itll be on 2 joists and then partially in the middle.
Im sorry im not a engineer, and i hope i made sense.. I cant use the other walls because one wall is the entrance of my room and that would be directly over the middle of the floor (if you walk down stairs) and there is no load bearing wall down there its open floor. And i can use the other wall because its also just a wall seperating bedrooms and the level under is open flooring and no load bearing walls or anything as well.
Now in my opinion it would be best to put the tank along on the outside wall of the house this way its resting on 5-6 beams and their joists. But the window issue kinda blows.. so the best wall is the other wall but then itll only be on two beams.. and im not sure if that will hold weight wise. And yes of course im moving my 92g out